‘82 GMC “Junkyard JIMMY” {Build bash Rebuild}

[pblaze725]

There was a hole on the side of the frame near the body mount that I used to fish the parking brake cable thru.

I added a tab to the crossmember for the little flange clip to set the parking brake tension. This location allows me to center the cable keeping it all tucked above the skid plate supports.
That's about it. I drilled and tapped (9) holes to mount the skid.

I put the skid plate on and I'm ready to rock.

The future plan is to get a piece of inobtainium and replace the steel to save weight.

The final touch was to make some exhaust hanger tabs the hold the pipes at their new location which is about 1" higher than before.

 

[andyblack]

Inobtanium...

 

[pblaze725]

https://vimeo.com/123768984

The Cincinnati Shear made quick work to cut me a piece of 3'x4'x .25" for a winch mount.

More to come soon...

 

[dremu]

Inobtanium...

Also "unobtanium."

Like Greg72's build, where you keep expecting a skid plate made out of carbon fiber hexagonally sandwiched with ultra-high-molecular-weigh polyethylene, lined with titanium liberally sprinkled with speed holes cut with diamond-coated lasers.

-- A

 

[andyblack]

"Lasers"

 

[pblaze725]

I took the boss for a cruise today. All was well.







The wife said to get the winch installed so we can hit the trail. She's a keeper.

 

[supermotard750]

That's the best kind of keeper.

 

[ryoken]

what a great lookin pooch...

 

[pblaze725]

what a great lookin pooch...

Thanks mang.

I thought about you today as I was looking at my 1/4" plate and realized it has a huge curve in it.

 

[pblaze725]

I took out my grill, and little mustache trim piece to see how much room is available for my winch.

Next I removed the bumper and coolers and marked out where I need more room for the winch.

After the notch you can get an idea of how much more room I have...

I clamped a piece of scrap metal in the frame rails to test fit and it looks like it will fit.

Here's a close up of the notch on the core support. At first I thought about adding reinforcement to it but it still feels plenty stout.
I might add some metal in the front just to get rid of any sharp edges.

 

[andyblack]

When I read the first sentence of your latest post on my phone I was thinking you had a cookout for Easter. But that's not the case here.

Looks like plenty of room. I just hope you'll be able access the clutch lever easily enough.

 

[pblaze725]

I cooked a soup on Easter. It was pretty good. ...you want the recipe?


The clearence on the free spool is about 3/8" right now. As far as the hand goes, I will need to make that metal edge more 'wife friendly', after that I plan to modify my grill and keep the same look. We'll get to that soon.


If anyone wants to input on the design/ build of this please post up. My next move is to start cutting a main mounting plate that is bolt-on and separate from the bumper, and then bolt the bumper to it.

 

[andyblack]

Man I'm all about some soup! I broiled some seasoned sirloin steak with poblanos and onions. It was different, but then so am I.

I like your idea of bolting the plate onto your frame instead of welding it on there. I think it will be stronger and easier to remove/modify down the road. As for making anything more wife-friendly - that's always a good idea if you expect her to get out and hook the winch cable up for you. That way she has no excuse to crawl up under there in the mud and dirt and actuate that lever.

 

[pblaze725]

Soup recipe

Here you go:



Singapore Chicken stew. It was pretty good. I like sweet and spicy.

 

[andyblack]

Yummy. Personally I would leave out the cilantro and water chestnuts though. Good thing I've already eaten lunch or I would be getting hungry right about now. Bon apatite!

 

[pblaze725]

I was thinking replace the baby corn with shrimp.

Anywhoo.



I worked on the mount today, still in the design build stage I started with A piece of angle.

This little piece was cut attach the winch plate to the crossmember.

I mocked up the angle to the cardboard mounting plate.
This angle serves 2 purposes, it boxes in the lower end of the crossmember keeping mud and water out and supports the flat skid plate across the back.

It will be weldsd to the crossmember and bolted to the plate.

Then I replaced the cardboard with 1/4" steel plate...

The view from. I still plan to curve the plate to fit the frame rails...


I figure I better test fit the bumper get an idea of the fit.

It's gonna be tight. I still have a ways to go but picking away at it.

 

[andyblack]

I think the steel plate will hold up better than the cardboard would.

Your design looks like it will add strength to the frame too. What do you mean though when you say you're going to curve the plate to match the frame? Wouldn't it be better to have it as flat as possible?

One thing to remember is that when you're on the rocks or in a ditch or something, your frame will flex and could make it a lot harder to get your hand in between the bumper and body to work the clutch lever. I'm sure you can overcome this small problem though. I wonder if you could rotate the housing to make the lever easier to get to.

 

[pblaze725]

See the big 1" gap on the bottom of the frame? It lifts the winch up too high where it hits the radiator core.

I plan to cut off the rivets that hold the front shackle and replace them with bolts and utilize that to bolt the plate to the frame rails. When I bolt the mounting plate down I want it to be tight to the frame rails.

 

[andyblack]

Oh okay. I'd never noticed that before but you're right. There are actually a lot of curves in these frames if you look at them.

 

[pblaze725]

I made some cardboard templates of the frame rails and started to shape the mounting plate to fit.

Checking the curve with the top template.

I took some of my high strength cardboard and pressed the plate into shape.

The view from under the frame rails show how it fits. It still sits above the frame due to the rivets still being there.

My plan it to cut out the rivets and replace them with bolts thru the mounting plate.

When I test fit the piece the winch still would not slide under the radiator. I removed a little more metal from the 'wife friendly' radiator core and flipped my front body mounts to gain another 1/4" and it fits.

You may be wondering if the winch legs are all catywompus on the curved plate...?

No, the winch legs sit flat on the mounting plate.


The parting view for the day.

I cut the bottom rivets out and the plate sits flat and the winch is happy.

Next I need to figure out how I am going to connect the mounting plate to the front bumper.


A-One idea is to box in the sides, remove more rivets and replace them with bolts.

The glitch is if I plate the sides I can't slide the mounting plate in and out due to the curve of the frame.

B- The other idea is to plate 1/2 the height of the rails and only remove the lower rivets and swoop it up into the bumper mounting bolts.
This would be short enough to slide in from the front and long enough to bolt thru the stock mounting bolts.

3- I could cut a piece of plate that could bolt thru the Fairlead and bent it and weld it to the mounting plate in the front.



Any opinions?